Alter Nature:The Unnatural Animal

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source: v2nl

Revital Cohen and Tuur Van Balen run a London based experimental practice operating on the border between art and design. Inspired by designer species, composed wilderness and mechanical organs, they produce fictional objects, photographs and videos exploring the juxtaposition of the natural with the artificial. They often involve bioethicists, animal breeders and other scientists in the development of the work in order to push the boundaries of material and process.
Since graduating from the Design Interactions department at the Royal College of Art in 2008, they have been exhibiting and lecturing internationally. Recent exhibitions and talks took place at MoMa, Tate Britain, National Museum of China, Cooper-Hewitt, Z33 House for Contemporary Art, London Design Museum, FACT, V2 Institute for Unstable Media, Natural History Museum of Vienna and Design Indaba, amongst others.
Cohen Van Balen are the recipients of several awards and commissions, including the Science Museum’s Emerging Artist Commission, two Wellcome Trust Arts Awards and an Award of Distinction at Prix Ars Electronica.
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source: z33be

Revital Cohen is a designer who develops critical objects and provocative scenarios exploring the juxtaposition of the natural with the artificial. Her work spans across various mediums and includes collaborations with scientists, bioethicists, animal breeders and physicians. She has received many acknowledgments and awards, amongst others from FactoryDesign, the Helen Hamlyn Centre, Science Museum’s Emerging Artist Commission, and Icon magazine. Revital Cohen has been exhibiting and lecturing internationally within varied contexts and locations – from scientific and academic conferences to art galleries and design fairs.
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source: thewhitebuildingorguk

Revital Cohen and Tuur Van Balen’s work is occupied with broad meanings of material and production. They work across objects, installation, video and photography to explore the idea of manufacturing as a cultural, ethical and political process. Their practice experiments with the use of design as an artistic medium, drawing on tensions between biology and technology. Inspired by the idea of the technological material, they create artificial minerals, unnatural animals and poetic machines.